Torture is bad. This isn’t a revelation; we all know torture is bad. “Justified torture?” Also bad. This may be a revelation. You might disagree with that. Don’t care. Even among spy agencies, life is not a constant running episode of “24.” Resorting to torture represents failure. Failure of intelligence, failure of morality, and most importantly, a failure of society.
I imagine Daniel Jones (Adam Driver) came to Washington, DC years ago with high intentions … high intentions, a work ethic, and a commitment to truth that never wavered. And yet, in the opening scene, he is, arguably, committing felony treason by sneaking his un-redacted report on terrorist interrogation torture past federal officials. The year is 2015 and Jones – a staffer for Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) has sunk his entire life into a The Report. The title sequence cleverly announces “The Torture Report,” but sharpies the middle word before the letters leave the screen.
The United States, of course, was attacked on 9/11/2001 when terrorists destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center. In the wake of this terrorism, the all-red government justified no end of aggressive behavior including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the use of torture on suspected terrorists. In 2009, Daniel Jones led what started as a bipartisan look at torture, specifically the use of “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” including waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and extreme embarrassment (like having to discuss a movie like this with your MAGA-lovin’ grandfather).
This film is really two films: The Report and The Fallout. In part I, the team of Daniel Jones slowly becomes just Daniel Jones as the Republicans remove themselves from the investigation committee (gosh, I wonder why), then slowly the Dems abandon him, too, citing things like “getting a better job” and “having a life.” It can’t be emphasized enough how much Daniel Jones’s Diary would paint a sorry picture: “Dear Diary, being cooped up in a windowless sub-basement for 20 hours a day is finally paying dividends! Sure, my colleagues have all left for greener pastures, all I do is look at pictures of naked men with their balls attached to car batteries, and often I get to read a memo about how ineffective the whole thing has been, but today was different! Today, Senator Feinstein talked to me personally. She told me to ‘put a lid on it.’ The thirty seconds of fresh air and her scowl were all worth it. My five years in a dungeon have not been wasted.”
Yeah, but part II is really depressing; that’s the timeline where we realize the lengths to which America will go to hide an ugly truth.
The Report is, of course, not just about “what W got away with” or “whether or not any additional terrorism was avoided,” but rather a singular question of: when your society, your people, your nation advocates torture, how does that make you any better than the terrorists you oppose? This isn’t a question of my personal naïvete, but more a genuine exposure of the fear that guides the actions of many of us, especially those in the GOP. Not long ago, I reviewed Official Secrets and found it lacking for timeliness. The same could be said here except for the fact that we are once again right now engulfed in a political setting in which the GOP has decided that laws only apply to the people they oppose. Do you really want to live in the society where the Constitution is used as a cage for Republicans to hem in their opponents, but merely a suggestion for “conservatives” in power? Do you really want the society where we torture? Could you at least check your facts first?
Sequestered foes from Cairo to Riyadh
May not appreciate the fortune they’ve had
In evaluation rewarding
Between Trump and waterboarding
Could feigned drowning really be that bad?
Before you comment on how glib that sounds, the answer is: Yes, I would rather live in a country where Donald Trump is President and his massive cult of dangerous morons knows not truth from lie than be waterboarded on a daily basis. But, you know, it’s not nearly as clear-cut as it should be.
Rated R, 119 Minutes
Director: Scott Z. Burns
Writer: Scott Z. Burns
Genre: Lives that probably suck more than yours
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: SJWs
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Professional waterboarders
